VIC Geelong

That honestly will come down to the overall goal/strategy mate tbh...

It will be impossible to help with that without knowing your overall situation and also what the goal is.

Good thing is Victoria market is really in favour of the buyers but more important question is if it's the right market for you..

 

I got similar feedback about stagnant/pulled back price from at least 3 REAs late last year (Sep-Nov 2018). One particular house that I was looking at, the seller initially wanted $530k which was unrealistic imo (the REA admitted that too). I offered $450k then $470k but the seller said no. He dropped the asking price to $510k after 1.5 months, then $490k after 3 months then finally sold it for around $472k after 4+ months on the market. At the peak, he could get $490k.

 

Interesting. My parents sold a house August or September, they got top dollar for the property in Corio. Market started going down after that, time of the royal commission.

I think it was more of a price correction in Geelong with all the cheap suburbs going up. I really think long term, it'll continue to grow. So many good things happening there

 

Yes, a lot of suburbs in Geelong became stagnant or pulled back a bit from the last quarter of 2018.

 

It's interesting to see Newcomb's price point is now very close to what Corio is sitting. Both around the high 300ks and rental yield across Geelong is on the rise. I think the Geelong inner ring will be proving itself to be of good value.

Would people consider investing in Geelong over Brisbane if yield comes back to around 5%? I'm curious

Cheers,
David

 

Mid to long term, Geelong will do well imo but no hurry to jump in now unless it is a cracking deal.

 

It’s interesting when someone compared a regional city like Geelong with a capital city like Brisbane.

Personally, I would speculate that inner suburbs close to Brisbane CBD will do better than inner suburbs close to Geelong CBD, in term of capital growth. However, when it comes to yield, without knowing inner Brisbane very well, I’d assume Geelong inner suburbs still give you a better yield than Brisbane ones.

 

What would you classify as a "cracking deal" in Geelong terms?

Hehe, I'm not the first and I won't be the last either

I guess I didn't word the question very well. Let me re-phrase - "for a budget of $500K, would you look at getting into Geelong suburbs which are within 5km ring such as the likes of Belmont, or getting into Brissie middle ring suburbs such as Arana/Ferny Hills, assuming both returns a gross yield of 5%?"

Cheers,
David

 

I use to live in Geelong for 27~ years.

I think Corio/Norlane etc had its boom and a bit of a price correction (was undervalued before). As Point Cook, Weribee etc grows with small land lots, I can't help but think Geelong is still on the radar. There is so much benefit in Geelong with ring road, beaches, land sizes (even people buying in Bannockburn etc)

As Armstrong Creek and other new estates grow, it puts Geelong on the map. If they introduce the high-speed rail and make it happen, I see Geelong booming again. It's 1hr drive from Geelong to Melbourne city and 1hr drive to Lorne. People commute 1 hour from Point Cook to the city, why not find somewhere that's cheaper and has potential?

I'm in Brisbane and the market is just so odd. Nice areas and there is no growth and some houses even make a loss when they sell.

I think you could get more $$ out of having a Geelong house for 10 years then a Brisbane house. More career opportunity in Melbourne too

 

Agree with you about Geelong potential but you compared the peak hour travelling from Point Cook with the off-peak hour travelling from Geelong. It is pear vs apple.

 

Very true. Guess I was referring to your typical peak hour traffic.

If the high-speed link gets done, it will be a massive bonus. I would rather Geelong (probably because I'm biased) as I would rather take kids etc to the beaches rather than Melbourne city on a weekend.

 

IMO, a cracking deal means the number will need to stack up very well even with no growth for the next 5 years and with an interest rate of 5%-5.5%.

 

Did you end up making a decision on which one?

 

Unfortunately I cannot buy at this point as I'm still waiting on 2 years business ABN

Though if I have to choose I would still lean towards Brisbane/SEQ at this point. The inner suburb of Geelong's yield hasn't returned to 5% yet so not in a hurry. As @hieund85 pointed out will only consider Geelong if it's a cracking deal at this point in time.

What about you? Are you going to invest in the Redcliffe area?

Cheers,
David

 

Still deciding.

My partner and I are still weighing up what we want to do. We have family back in Geelong, so the pull to find a house in Geelong in a nice suburb, renovate to possible sell/rent later on. Looking in the Hamlyn Heights area

The Brisbane market is freaking us out a bit, as we've seen some houses in Redcliffe, near the water go on the market for $450,000 but to find out it's been sitting on the real estate site since October. The house is 2 streets away from the beach, which is quite confusing as to why it hasn't sold.

We looked at a house in Scarborough that was a really nice area, needed some paint and could be a really nice home however it's sale price was $510,000 (nothing wrong with that price). We were then scratching our heads why it was so cheap in a nice area (I mean, the property would sell for over $1mil in Victoria). Then it hit! QLD is so big with the beaches etc, it's not as exclusive to be a house near the water because there are so many places that offer that in QLD compared to NSW and VIC. Makes me think if it would end up growing as much as I would think it could.

A lot of second story houses in QLD, but also can become quite expensive to do any major renovations, as there is only so much you can do upstairs without having to put extensions on (don't want to over spend either)

 

If the yields are the same, I’d go for Brisbane middle ring suburbs, mainly because it’s a capital city.

Cycle-wise, Brisbane is due and Geelong has passed its peak, IMO.

But I am seeing future is looking brighter with Geelong than Brisbane for long term. VIC government seems to work more effectively than QLD government. This is just my gut feeling. A crystal ball is what I need to correctly predict the future though.